Innocence Of Father Brown [Mass Market Paperback]

The 12 stories herein can of course be found in THE COMPLETE FATHER BROWN, and THE ANNOTATED INNOCENCE OF FATHER BROWN. This is the first Brown collection, which introduces not only Father Brown himself but Flambeau, the daring thief. Father Brown worked on Flambeau during their early confrontations, and eventually persuaded him to give up his life of crime. He became Father Brown's friend and sometime sidekick, and appears in three-quarters of the stories herein, in one capacity or another.

"The Blue Cross" - The great detective Valentin knows that Flambeau the thief has selected a little English priest as his target, since the priest has been entrusted with a valuable cross set with sapphires. But when Valentin begins tracking the priest across the city, a very odd pattern of incidents begins to emerge.

"The Secret Garden" - Father Brown is a dinner guest in Valentin's home.

"The Queer Feet" - 'The Twelve True Fishermen', meeting for their annual fish dinner at a small, exclusive restaurant, saw the usual count of waiters - but one had died hours before! Father Brown (called in earlier for the waiter's dying confession and last rites) unravels a spectacular caper.

"The Flying Stars" - Flambeau's last crime (as noted in the 1st paragraph of the story), cited as an example of his love of artistically matching settings with crimes. His confrontation with Father Brown resonates nicely with the preceding story's metaphor of Brown having him on a line like a fish.

"The Invisible Man" - Locked-room mystery. The inventor was found murdered in his flat, but witnesses say that nobody could have gone past them without being seen.

"The Honour of Israel Gow" - This story actually takes place *after* "The Wrong Shape". The Earl of Glengyle was a hermit - and after finding some very odd circumstances in the Earl's home after his death, Flambeau and Father Brown begin to fear that Satanism is involved.

"The Wrong Shape" - The writer was a bad husband and an unpleasant man, and the beautifully penned suicide note seemed almost too good to be true.

"The Sins of Prince Saradine" - Flambeau takes Father Brown along to collect on the prince's invitation, sent to him during his criminal career, to visit if he were to become respectable, since he greatly admired Flambeau's stunt of once arranging for one policeman to arrest another, when both were looking for *him*.

"The Hammer of God" - The last two Bohuns are the curate, who pursues the beauty of his church, and the colonel, who chases women. But if he managed to catch the blacksmith's wife, it may well have been the death of him.

"The Eye of Apollo" - Locked-room mystery. Father Brown came to visit Flambeau, who has taken an office in a new building. Pauline Stacey, a rich idealist in a neighbouring office, fell down the empty elevator shaft that same day - when nobody else, apparently, was in the building.

"The Sign of the Broken Sword" - Why has Father Brown taken Flambeau to every monument to the memory of the great general, finally ending here at his grave? "Where does a wise man hide a leaf? In a forest." Someone, unfortunately, once took that saying to heart.

"The Three Tools of Death" - With three weapons visible on the scene, why did the victim die by a fall from a window?

I read this on the recommendation of my 14 year old grandson who claims Chesterton is the best mystery writer EVER! My grandson just might be right. Clearly Chesterton is a highly intelligent story-crafter. This collection of short stories about Father Brown kept me awake and alert and ALWAYS surprised regarding the outcome. There was nothing formulaic or predictable in these stories. Father Brown is delightful in a Columbo fashion (perhaps the TV detective was modeled after him), and his sleuthing is remarkably unique. I loved Chesterton's use of language too. His sentences are long and luscious and his vocabulary makes reading a delicious experience. I must say, I'm quite happy to know that a 14 year old finds Chesterton so exceptional.

G. K. Chesterton had a writing ability that is nothing short of extraordinary. He could craft landscapes, settings, and locations with vivid textures, and possessed a cunning knack that made the ordinary seem thoroughly outlandish and the peculiar rather tame. This collection of short mysteries aptly shows off his skill as a writer; whereas most authors would use an entire novel to build tension, cultivate atmosphere, and weave a complex mystery, Chesterton could do all that in a few brief pages - and at a much higher level of quality too! Reading this book is like reading twelve beautifully crafted novels in one, such is the quality.

I won't spoil the stories for you; reading this book is a rewarding journey for the imagination, meeting many characters fantastic in their normalcy or surprisingly believable and realistic in their peculiarity, visiting locations stunningly brought to life with a writing skill that is second to none, and delving into mysterious events that are often confusing, complex, and entertaining for the brain. Don't pick this book up if you want some pedestrian tales; pick it up if you want first-class storytelling that will keep you both guessing and thinking.

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